CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership is recognizing Community Living Oakville with a 2025 CQL Award of Excellence. The international honor acknowledges the organization’s commitment to advancing the achievement of personally-defined goals by people with disabilities who are supported by the agency. Community Living Oakville is receiving the award for its Outcomes Fund, which was created to provide financial support to help people with disabilities in the pursuit and realization of their dreams.
“Community Living Oakville goes beyond just finding out what people want to accomplish in their lives. The organization is taking bold steps in helping make those outcomes a reality,” says Mary Kay Rizzolo, President and CEO of CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership. “We’re privileged to recognize this life-changing initiative with a 2025 CQL Award of Excellence!”
Community Living Oakville encourages people receiving services to apply for the Outcomes Fund, to help them in achieving one particular outcome in their life. The program, which is made possible through organizational fundraising initiatives, provides a quarterly allocation of funds to address individual outcomes that are requested in the application process. The Outcomes Fund has assisted people in attaining numerous goals, such as participating in local events, becoming a member of a community center, and covering costs of activity fees.
“At Community Living Oakville, we are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for the people we support; however, we recognize that financial barriers can often limit opportunities for people,” says Jenny Parisi, Director of Services and Quality Enhancement for Community Living Oakville. “Through dedicated fundraising and the creation of the Outcomes Fund, Community Living Oakville was able to break down these financial barriers and support people in reaching their goals – promoting greater inclusion and connection within their communities.”
Over the course of a year, the Outcomes Fund provided $88,000 to support people in attaining their goals. The money was raised through the organization’s annual golf fundraiser. In a single quarter, Community Living Oakville received 58 applications for the Outcomes Fund, and was able to approve all applications submitted, providing $22,000 for people with disabilities that quarter. During the application review process, priority is given to submissions that focus on outcomes with a tangible, long-term impact.
“It’s an innovative way to use fundraising dollars to support people’s goals, as well as increase awareness of the Personal Outcome Measures®,” shares Matthew Forbes, CQL Quality Enhancement Specialist, who nominated Community Living Oakville for the award.
The Outcomes Fund is grounded in the 21 indicators of the Personal Outcome Measures® (POM), a person-centered discovery tool developed by CQL. The indicators cover a diverse set of quality-of-life areas, such as choice, health, safety, social capital, relationships, rights, employment, and more. Applicants of the Outcomes Fund can request financial support involving a specific goal that is captured in the Personal Outcome Measures®.
About Community Living Oakville
In 1954, a group of dedicated parents founded what is now called Community Living Oakville. Today, Community Living Oakville provides a range of support services to children, youth, and adults who have developmental disabilities and their families. The organization is guided by its values, experience, and history and draws from strong roots in the community.
Community Living Oakville recognizes the rights of everyone to have a full range of life choices, including access to education, affordable and appropriate housing, leisure options, gainful employment and participation in the community. Its vision is “a world where each person with a developmental disability lives their dreams and choices as a respected and valued contributor to community life,” and its mission is to “encourage and support each person to live active, rewarding and fulfilling lives in the community, by providing quality services, supports and opportunities that are determined by their dreams and goals.”
About the CQL Awards of Excellence
Established in 2015, the CQL Awards of Excellence recognize individuals, organizations, and/or systems that demonstrate excellence in the support of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, as well as older adults. The 2025 CQL Awards of Excellence recipients were selected among numerous nominations by professionals and providers in the disability services sector, for exemplifying the very best practices, programs, and initiatives across human services. Over the past ten years, from 2015 through 2025, there have been a total of 23 award recipients.
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Since 1969, CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership has been a leader in working with human service organizations and systems to continuously define, measure, and improve quality of life and quality of services for youth, adults, and older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities. CQL offers accreditation, training, certification, research, and consultation services to agencies that share our vision of dignity, opportunity, and community for all people.
Community Living Oakville Receives 2025 CQL Award of Excellence